


A Stranger From the Train

by marcoxfriedl



Category: Actor RPF, British Actor RPF
Genre: Celebrities, Collage, Fassavoy, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 20:24:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16647167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marcoxfriedl/pseuds/marcoxfriedl
Summary: James is just an ordinary college student who chasing train back to Manchaster to meet his friends. He should be in Manchaster, but since he have class with his favourite Professor, he's going back to London.When James already sit on the train back to Manchaster, he found this attractive ginger hottie guy.





	A Stranger From the Train

**Author's Note:**

> I can't make any good fanfiction, I hope you guys enjoying this like I do.

**_From : Benjamin Cumberdouche  
_ ** _Tom and I already had lunch because your goddamn ass takes too long to get here. Get something on the train or whatever._

“Shitheads.” James muttered and pursed his lips, pouting when he read the text his best friend just sent him. Benedict was such a douchebag and he should have known better. If it’s not because of the unexpected lecture from his favorite professor today, he would’ve been in Manchester right now with them since morning and probably had a proper lunch. He never liked train food, which was nasty and far from appetizing.

He leaned his head to the seat and put his phone away, yawning as he looked outside the window train to see if there’s anything interested. He saw a man with a big bag that had a box shaped, was holding a cup a coffee and walking out some cheap coffee bar and thought maybe he should’ve bought some to reduce his hunger, but noticing the train would be off in a minute, he held that thought.

Moreover, he felt a little tired and regretted to continue his sketch for next week assignment last night. He slept so late because he planned to sleep on the train anyway. But when Nicholas sent him a text that Professor McKellen was having an off-schedule lecture that morning, he didn’t want to lose the chance. Benedict complained as he was preparing himself to go.

“What the hell, James?”  His roommate glared at him. “First of all, this is your idea, to have a weekend in bloody Manchester because—as you said last week—this is Celtic shit! Having some kind of something football related with another football thing. We have tickets, hotels, and shit and you’re—what, dumping us?”

Tom, who overheard everything just laughed from the kitchen. Benedict glanced at the taller but then faced James again as the smaller guy started talking.

“It’s not shit, it’s a fucking football team.” James said as he put on his shoes. “And second, this is McKellen, the best teacher in the world.” Benedict widened his eyes as his voice got louder, making the whole building vibrated if it’s possible.

“Ah, there! What kind of teacher, having a lecture on Saturday? Does he not have life or something?”

James sighed and looked at his roommate. “Yes, he does. That’s why I can’t miss this opportunity because he’s not around often.”

“That’s because he’s too old.” Benedict snapped quickly. James paused, feeling a little annoyed. Tom sensed it even from a far.

“Ben, shut up. Just… let him have it.” Tom said with a soothing voice, walking closer to both men. Benedict rolled his eyes when James stood up and grabbed his bag.

“Look, I’m sorry. But I can’t miss McKellen. He’s way too busy to have a lecture for other days, everyone is going and I am too. I have to go now. I’m catching up with you guys later.” James said apologetically as Benedict folded his arms on his chest while Tom was just snickering behind the upset man. James knew Tom wouldn’t mind even though he wasn’t even a fan of Celtic but he wanted to go away from London for a while to get away from his study so he agreed. And more for a reason to be with Benedict, who agreed to go just so he could see James’ face when his favorite football team loses the game.

“Excuse me.” A voice disrupted his thoughts and James turned his head to another side, facing a man with a cream sweater and a dark grey jacket. “Is this seat taken?”

James blinked twice before he said, “No. Please.” He replied as he gestured his hand and shifting away, earning a smile from the man.

“Thank you.” The man said, sitting beside James. “There’s actually another empty seat over there, but the person seems too… chatty…” James tried to look at the seat behind theirs, but the man stopped him. “Don’t look. It’ll get suspicious. It’s an old lady and I don’t want to break her heart.”

James chuckled. “Right…” he muttered, fixing his own sitting position. “That’s quite of a heartbreak, I’ll say.”

The man titled his head with a chuckle. “No, it’s just… I don’t want to be rude, but I want to have some quiet time. If you don’t mind, of course.” The man raised one of his eyebrows—in James’ word—in a very attractive way. “Or you’re waiting for someone else?”

 “No, no.” James shook his head lightly. “It’s fine. I’d be probably sleeping all the way and I’m not waiting for anyone.”

“Oh, okay.” The man said, smiling again at James who found his throat suddenly got dried. James let the man alone as his blue eyes scanned over the man as quickly as he could. That man was a ginger, a handsome one to that. He brought a black backpack with him, which looked as expensive as his jacket to James. He was tall, even when he sat down James could tell the ginger was taller than him. He might be older than James—but that’s such an unfair point because everyone looked older than him anyway thanks to his baby-face. James almost felt ridiculous for not changing the stupid red and khaki sweater his sister gave him, which was actually warm but comparing to the ginger looked…

He looked like a total dork.

And he smelled good. So good.  
James almost asked what kind of deodorant he was using. He immediately threw away his silly thoughts and tried to distract himself from thinking further. 

However, the ginger _hottie_ was silent for the rest of time as the train got off the station just like he said, except when the conductor asked him for his ticket. All he did was just reading a book of God’s knows what. It looked like one that Tom would actually read, some kind of law book that James didn’t bother to find out. All James was bringing in his bag was his sketchbook and some journals from today’s class. He wasn’t in the mood to draw anything since he was too hungry and too tired for even lifting a pencil. So might as well just sleep from another two hours. He felt his stomach grumbled but decided to just sleep on it. This would be such a long ride.

+

Michael glanced at his watch as he arrived at the Euston station on time. He sighed in relief realizing he wasn’t late from his office to get on the last minute train to head Manchester so that he wouldn’t hear any complaint from Hugh, who was already complaining since last night because Michael promised to get to the city this morning.

What could he do anyway? He couldn’t miss the opportunity to handle Gruber’s case that had caught his attention since forever. So even though it’s a day off, he still drove to his office to meet his boss about the case, while Hugh was already in Manchester since morning by himself. It was a very short meeting, his boss just gave him some papers and he was expected on Monday for more details.

He got on the train, walking on the tube to get into any empty seat, looking around and saw another empty spot beside an old lady who kept talking to a couple of young man and woman across her. Michael could definitely saw the discomfort of the couple’s faces, so he didn’t even bother to think twice for not sitting there.

Then there was it, another empty seat. The man who was already sitting near the window seemed nice. “Excuse me.” The man startled and turned to face him, his clear bright blue eyes were the first thing caught Michael’s attention. “Is this seat taken?”

“No. Please.” The man shifted on the seat. His voice was light and he looked young to Michael. He caught the glance at the man’s bag that was having some UCL’s pins.

“Thank you.” Michael replied and took a seat. “There’s actually another empty seat over there, but the person seems too… chatty…” Hearing that, the UCL guy tried to look behind him so Michael had to stop him. “Don’t look. It’ll get suspicious. It’s an old lady and I don’t want to break her heart.”

The UCL guy chuckled. “Right…” he muttered, fixing his own sitting position. “That’s quite of a heartbreak, I’ll say.”

Michael quickly corrected his words with a chuckle as he noticed the UCL guy was using an adorable Scottish accent.  
“No, it’s just… I don’t want to be rude, but I want to have some quiet time. If you don’t mind, of course.” Michael raised one of his eyebrows. “Or you’re waiting for someone else?”

 “No, no.” He shook his head lightly. “It’s fine. I’d be probably sleeping all the way and I’m not waiting for anyone.”

“Oh, okay.” He nodded and there was silence for a while. He heard a weird faint sound from the man beside him. He wanted to point it out but seeing the small man was dozing off he decided not to say anything. He continued reading the book Hugh recommended to him, which was surprisingly good enough to pass time. It was such a long ride and he enjoyed the peaceful quiet time he had before joining the crowd later at the stadium.

Along way to chapter three of his book, he felt a nudge on his arm. He lifted his head from his book and realized that the small man’s head was trying to knock him. Before he could shift away, the head was already planted on his shoulder. Michael was too surprised to move, he froze and looked confused for a while.

He put his book down to his lap slowly like he’s afraid to wake the man up. Usually Michael was bothered by this kind of ‘sleeping on a stranger’s shoulder’ cliché, but the man beside him looked so tired he didn’t want to bother his sleep.

He leaned his back to the seat, making a more comfortable position so he could support the smaller man’s pose. He could hear the soft breathing of the man and thought, “Yeah, I’ll let this one slide.”

Michael yawned softly, this ride was longer than expected when he didn’t have a book to read—or anything to do for that matter because he didn’t want to wake the small man up. He sighed and felt his eyelids were getting heavier. He tried his best not to fall asleep at this point but the train was so smooth and quiet. So when he finally closed his eyes, he might or might not lean his head to the smaller man’s without him even realizing it.

+

A guy with a box-shaped bag got into the train tube and started wandering to find a seat. A cup of hot cheap coffee in hand to make himself warm, and a bag for his camera securely in his hold. He saw an empty seat at the end of the row where a guy with funny sweater but he was too late to get close as a redhead man beat him to it. He sighed and chose to walk further and finally found an empty seat beside an old lady.

“Excuse me.” He said as he sat down without further ado.

“Oh, hello.” The chubby old lady greeted him. He smiled. “I’m Joanne. What’s your name, young man?”

 _‘Is it too late to move seat?’_ The man sighed and smiled politely at the lady. “Evan.”

“Oh, American?” The old lady beamed, the man just nodded. “Now, Evan, you’re such a handsome bloke, aren’t you? I have a son who’s probably older than you right now, but he’s also a handsome gentleman. He has this beautiful wife, blonde and all that pretty face—”

Evan didn’t hear the rest of it as he slowly put his ear pod on his ears. His hair was long enough to cover it so he just smiled at the lady without her knowing he wasn’t even listening to her but to the voice of Jim Croce that hit his ears.

The train finally got off the station, Evan could see that the old lady’s mouth still didn’t stop moving. He suddenly leaned off his seat and got up. “Oh, sorry. I’d love to hear more of your story but I‘m _kinda_ thirsty, so—” 

“Oh, I have one, dear—”

Evan snatched his camera bag as fast as possible and walked away from the seat. He huffed as the song changed to U2. He glanced at the seat he saw before and stopped for a while.

The funny sweater guy was sleeping on the redhead’s shoulder, while the taller himself leaned his head on the top of the funny sweater ones.  
He grabbed his mirrorless camera and took a picture of them both. He smiled at his picture and he felt proud of his talent instead of feeling a bit creepy. To his defense, he was a photographer, they should be proud too. He paused for a while before he grabbed his Polaroid in his other bag and snapped for two pictures quickly. As the results came out good, he planted one on the redhead’s jacket’s pocket, and one in the small pocket on his bag that have a UCL pin. He smiled and then left the tube to get to the ones without any chatty old lady.

 

+++

 

James woke up to the feeling of some light movement from his side. He slowly opened his eyes and jerked away from the man beside him as he realized he had been leaning on his shoulders. He could feel his cheeks and ears were getting red as the Ginger Hottie looked at him.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry!” James said immediately. His voice was cracking like it wasn’t embarrassing enough for him to sleep on some stranger.

The Ginger Hottie smiled. “It’s okay. You look tired.”

James looked away from those pale blue eyes and shifted away on his seat, the feeling for embarrassment creeping up on his skin from head to toe, the train was suddenly getting warmer as he clutched his bag into his chest. Lucky him, the train was stopping not long after that as they arrived at Piccadilly, the Ginger Hottie grabbed his expensive bagpack and ready to get off the train. James sighed the breath he was holding, while still having his cheeks probably as red as his hideous sweater. He was about to sat up when he noticed the Ginger Hottie was looking at him.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to stare, but…” He pointed at his own cheek. “Your cheek has… my jacket’s mark…”

James touched his cheek in an instant and felt a line on his cheek. Man, he slept for two hours, of course it was going to leave a mark.

“Well,” The Ginger Hottie cleared his throat. “Have a nice day.” He said and sat up after James gave him a faint, “Have a nice day for you too.” And walking away from James who still had his heart was beating so fast.

+

Michael got off the train and fished his phone from the pocket of his jeans. He tapped some more on the display before he put it on his ear. Some beeps came into his ears before he heard a rough voice on the other line. “You here yet, bub?”

“I just got off.” Michael said. “Where are you?”

“Some kind of bar.” Hugh replied. “I’ll get you with Uber and we’re heading straight to the stadium.”

“You’re in a bar? It’s 2 PM.” Michael smirked.

“Go fuck yourself, Mike. You’re Irish and I don’t tell you how to live your life.” And Michael just chuckled when Hugh hanged up the phone.

He walked to the nearest coffee bar to buy some drink and waited for Hugh to get him. When he reached his pocket to get some money, his fingers touched something that was definitely not money.  
He grabbed it and saw a Polaroid picture of him and the UCL guy, sleeping soundly. He widened his eyes and looked around to find the said guy but failed due to the crowded station. He flipped the picture and there was nothing written on it as expected.

Who the hell took a picture of him and that UCL guy like this?

Michael was a little weirded out, but it was a good kind of weird as he found himself smiling at the adorable picture. He really hoped he could see the guy again while remembering how beautiful the vivid blue eyes of the UCL guy.

+

“There you are.” Tom smiled and waved to James when the smaller man arrived at the stadium. James smiled sheepishly seeing his mates and walked a little fast to get closer.

“About time.” Benedict muttered when James patted his shoulder.

“You look a little flushed. Are you okay?” Tom asked as they walked into the stadium.

“I’m fine.” James answered, not wanting to tell the two about the encounter with the Ginger Hottie or he would have Benedict teased him for the rest of his life.  
“Can you hold this for me?” he passed his bag to Tom who voluntarily held the bag for him as he took off his sweater.

“Let’s just get in first, I wanna see your face when Celtic loses.” Benedict said with a mocking smile.

“In your dream, mate.” James replied with a smile.

“Celtic is very good these days.” Tom commented, he’s not that big of a fan of football like James, but everytime James watched the game he was forced to watch it too. Even he had to admit the Celts played really good.

James patted the back of the tallest man between the three with a proud smile. “Thanks , Hiddles. You’re on a treat.” He smiled widely while Benedict rolled his eyes. “I need to go to the restroom first,” He said and folded his sweater and put it in his bag. “You guys can go ahead.” He said again as he reached for the bag’s little pocket to get his ticket. But when he pulled his hand, something was falling from the pocket. Benedict noticed and took it before he realized it was a Polaroid photo.

“What… is this?” Benedict lifted the picture and showed it to James and Tom. James frowned and widened his eyes when he recognized that it was him in the picture with the Ginger Hottie.

James was too flustered to reply while Tom grabbed the photo and Benedict just laughed. “Nice one, James! He’s hot.” Tom chuckled seeing the adorable picture. James snatched the photo while the two friends were still laughing.

“I-I don’t- I don’t even kno— how does this thing end up in my bag?” James asked rhetorically.

“Is that why you’re flushing?” Benedict teased. “You got yourself a boyfriend.”

“No!” James exclaimed, earning another laughter from the two. “I don’t even know this guy!”

“Aw, you two look adorable.” Tom placed his palm on his chest.

“What the f— he’s just a guy I sat with on the train! I don’t even know his name!” James tried to explain but his idiot friends seemed not caring what he was going to say anyway.

“He seems Irish.” Benedict commented, looking at the picture with a stoic face.

“How could you possibly know that?” Tom scoffed.

Benedict shrugged his shoulders. “I just know. I’m kind of having some inkling or something like that.”

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock.” James sighed and fished his ticket out of his bag and gave the said bag to Tom. “You guys go ahead.” He said and walked away to leave the two arguing about the Ginger Hottie while trying his best not to explode his bladder.

+

Hugh omitted the smoke from his mouth as he and Michael arrived at the stadium. Michael paid the Uber as the ‘punishment’ for leaving Hugh had to get on the train by himself. The taller man fisted his palms and cracked his fingers as he walked ahead.

“Hey, hey!” Michael called him as the Uber driver still trying to give him some changes. He thanked the driver and ran to catch up to Hugh in the big crowd of people who planned to watch to game.

“Let’s get some beers.” Hugh said as he walked to the nearest drink bar. Michael muttered a soft ‘yes’ because he needed to drink if Liverpool was gonna go against Celtic. He bet Hugh that Liverpool gonna beat Celtic’s ass, but Celtic’s performance was so good this season that got him a little nervous about the game.

“So, if the Old Stewart wanted you to do the Gruber’s case, why didn’t he tell you before that? We’re already behind now.”

“That’s why I recommend you to be my partner, _Partner_.” Michael smiled, sipping his beer. “I met him today and told him I want to do this with you, so you’re welcome.” The ginger said again, glancing at Hugh who looked at him in shock.

“You’re not kidding, right? I mean I know you’re always an asshole, but this is gonna be so big if we put out hands on this case.”

“We’re seeing Nolan on Monday. Patrick is kind of excited too, so seeing you this excited maybe I’m recommending a good partner for this.” Michael smiled and Hugh threw his arm around Michael’s shoulders.

“We’re best buddies again, Mikey. Let’s see Liverpool kick Celtic’s ass.” Hugh raised his beer and clicked their plastic glasses while Michael just laughed.

They walked into the stadium to get their seat. The place was so crowded, but thanks to Hugh’s taller figure, it wasn’t hard for Michael to find the back of his head among the sea of football fans as the big guy walked ahead. He might knock on some people shoulders as they tried to find their seat, and all Michael did was to apologize and some ‘Excuse me’ bunch of times.

+

James ran into the arena, impatiently tapped on his feet as he waited for people to move ahead so he could just sit. Benedict and Tom were already on theirs as he told them to.

“Excuse me. Sorry.” He muttered as he tried to pass some strangers to get to his seat. He didn’t know why people were so big these days, or was it him that had a small figure that he almost fell to the ground embarrassingly from getting knocked on the shoulders.

Once he spotted Tom who was waving at him from a far, he smiled and waved back before somebody knocked on his back a little too hard and almost fell. He grabbed the bench quickly to balance himself but failed to do so as the knocker held his arm.

“Sorry!” the person said to him. James turned his face towards his knocker and paused as he recognized the face.

It was him. The Ginger Hottie.

James’ chin dropped in shock to see him. And wow, he’s not wearing his expensive jacket anymore and just wearing an almost tight sweater that revealed a built chest—why was he so ripped even though he’s wearing a sweater? It’s really unfair compare to his petite figure.

“Uh..” James wanted to say something but the cat got his tongue as his eyes scanned the ripped chest.

“Sorry.” And the Ginger Hottie walked pass him like he never knew who he was. James didn’t know what to feel, he was a little relief that Ginger Hottie didn’t recognize him because he was still embarrassed from the sleeping incident on the train, but he also felt a little sad that the taller didn’t remember him.

He gulped and walked towards Tom and Benedict who looked at him with teasing eyes.

“Isn’t it the guy on the picture?” Tom asked, a mischievous smile painted on his lips. James didn’t answer and sat down immediately beside Benedict.

“You’re not shagging or something? I mean he’s your boyfriend.” Benedict piled on, earning a snicker from Tom.

“Piss off, you two.” James muttered, his face was so red making the two idiots noticed it and laughed.

“Aw, Jimmy you’re blushing.” Tom placed his palm on his chest.

 “We’re just so glad that you finally hit your puberty.” Benedict threw his arm to James’ shoulders, which James dodged it harshly.

“Can you two stop? It’s a bloody stranger!”

“Was he charmed by your piercing blue eyes?” James really wanted to knock Benedict to death by now.

“Or your adorable Scottish accent? That works for everyone.” Tom said as he sipped his drink. James just sighed and rolled his eyes in annoyance, starting to think maybe he could come up with better friends once they got back to London tomorrow. The two didn’t stop teasing him before the game finally started and James could never be more thankful.

 

++

 

The next day, Michael woke up on a hotel bed with a huge hangover. He just lost money to Hugh, so the big guy celebrated his win by drinking at some bar and Michael tried to forget the game by drinking beer way too much.

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty! We have to catch the train back to London. Tomorrow’s a big day.” Hugh knocked on his door loudly, making him groaned. “Mikey, come on! It’s almost two!”

Michael opened his eyes painfully, along with a big headache. Being a citizen of London for almost five years was taking a toll on him as he realized he couldn’t drink as much as he was still in Ireland. He glanced around and reached his phone. He exhaled as knowing that Hugh was right. It was past noon and they needed to go back to London in two hours.

The door was opened when Michael was still couldn’t even take the light from the lamp that Hugh turned on. “How the bloody hell can you open the door?” Michael asked with a hoarse but low voice.

“Front desk.” Hugh shrugged. Being a strong drinker, Hugh didn’t even seem as bad as he was. “Come on, get yourself something to eat and then we’re going.” And with that Hugh left the room. After fifteen minutes of preparing himself, including the session of just standing with a confused face, Michael grabbed his jacket and walked out his room, only to find Hugh was drinking coffee at the lobby.

“I want coffee too.” He mumbled like a kid, which Hugh found definitely not cute.

“Let’s get Starbucks on the way. The coffee is shit here. Or maybe grab some lunch, you haven’t had anything.” Hugh said and they checked out the hotel. Michael was still half asleep in his mind could only thanked the man for looking out for him. They took the cab to get to Picadilly quickly and decided to get some sandwich for Michael later on the station.

+

Benedict was still complaining about his loss yesterday while James beamed up brightly like sunshine. Tom just let out a small smile as James made an essay about why Celtic was playing good this season, which Benedict couldn’t find any interesting thing about it.

“Make fun of the Celts all you want, mate. I still win the bet so suck it up.” James said with a very bright smile Benedict almost blinded by it.

The trio was on the cab to head Picadilly to catch the afternoon train to get back to London. Tom had a class in the morning so he insisted to go back soon, while James actually didn’t have a class and Benedict had a noon class. But they loved Tom too much to let him go on the train himself, so they agreed to get back early.

They arrived at the station and got on the train quickly. James picked his favorite seat, the last row on the tube near the window, while the two others sat side by side across him. They’re still talking about the game they watched yesterday until a big man walked past them saying, “Excuse me.” And James looked up.

It was a very scary looking man, with hairs all over his arms, wearing a t-shirt and leather jacket. His hair was dark and his beard was filling his face. Benedict looked at James and mouthed, “He looks like Wolverine.” And James snickered at his joke. But that man wasn’t the one James got caught off guard.

It was the man behind that Wolverine guy. He was tall, but not taller than Wolverine. He had red hair and was gobbling a chicken sandwich. He was still wearing the same thing James remembered he wore yesterday. James almost lost his breath when the chicken sandwich guy looked at him. The guy also stopped his track and stared at James for a while.

 

It was the Ginger Hottie.

The Ginger Hottie stopped eating and wiped his lips. He smiled at James with a wide smile, his teeth resembled a shark to James but in adorable way.

 

“Oh, it’s you.” He pointed at James who was still speechless. “You’re the UCL guy yesterday.”

Benedict and Tom looked at the scene in shock. _UCL guy? What the f-_

“Y-yeah…?” James tried his best to smile but he failed as apparently he was just star- struck with a confused face that made Benedict and Tom laughed to themselves.

“Is this seat taken?” He pointed at the bench James was sitting.

James gulped his saliva because he felt his throat got dry all of sudden. “N-no, no…” He replied, almost cursing himself for stuttering.

The Ginger Hottie smiled and called the Wolverine who was already sat somewhere. “Hugh, I’m gonna sit here.”

“Whatever.” The Wolv—Hugh replied him and got back to his phone before someone else with big box-shaped took a seat next to him.

James shifted on his seat as the Ginger Hottie sat down. James was in the state of panic but also happy—he really couldn’t tell—to meet this hot guy again. Benedict and Tom smiled knowingly from across, they knew James was so flustered right now because of his late puberty.

+

Michael ate the sandwich as he and Hugh walked into the train. He was hungry, no doubt. He hadn’t had anything since last night and he woke up late today, so people couldn’t judge him for gobbling the sandwich like he had never had sandwich in his life before.

“How many of it worth again?” Hugh asked his friend as they walked to find empty seats.

“Five hundred thousand pounds.” Michael answered with chicken in his mouth. “If we won.”

“We will win.” Hugh said optimistically. “Gruber is a shit company, of course we will win.”

“Big money, big pollution. I love taking down a big company.” Michael said again as they walked into a certain car of train. There were lots of people in the last minute, so it’s kind of hard to find a good seat.

“Excuse me.” Hugh muttered, as he walked past by some college students. Michael followed behind him and stopped when he recognized a color of a sweater and bright blue eyes stared at him in shock.

It was the UCL guy. Still with the same funny sweater, a denim shirt inside it, and the art supplies bag with UCL pins on it. His eyes were so blue Michael almost thought they were lenses. He stopping his sandwich to get into his mouth and wipe his mouth.

“Oh, it’s you.” He said, while pointing at the guy. “You’re the UCL guy yesterday.” He continued.

“Y-yeah…?” The UCL guy mumbled with a soft voice. Michael could tell he was shocked to see him too.

Michael remembered the picture he found on his pocket and he wanted to know about it. So when he said, “Is this seat taken?” He pointed at the bench the UCL guy was sitting on.

“N-no, no…” The UCL guy replied again and his face was so...red?

 

Michael found it really cute. This guy was really cute.

 

“Hugh.” He called his partner who was already sitting down on other bench. “I’m gonna sit here.” He said and Hugh was frowning at him.

“Whatever.” Hugh said typically and got back to his phone.

+

The Ginger Hottie sat down and smiled at James, making it hard for James to control his heartbeat. The taller looked at his sandwich and showed it to him. “You want some?”

 James looked at him and the sandwich.

“Hm? No, no, thank you. I’m fine.” He said, feeling a little embarrassed for letting out an imaginary cold sweat. 

“Is it okay if I sit with you again?” The Ginger Hottie asked; James was surprised to hear ‘With you’ instead of just ‘Here’. 

“Yeah..” He nodded. “I’ll try not to sleep on you again this time.” James replied, almost mumbling but he was sure the other guy could still hear it clearly.

The Ginger Hottie chuckled. “I don’t mind though.”

 And James was almost melting to hear that. He glanced at his friends who tried so hard to hold their laugh and the Ginger Hottie noticed it.

 

“Are they your friends?” he asked, looking at James again. James nodded while looking at them as they faced away.

“I wish I could say no.” James replied.

“Why?” the Ginger Hottie chuckled. Oh, it was a beautiful chuckle too, James was jealous of how he could make little things gorgeous.

“They’re arsehats.” James said, looking down to his lap, nervously playing with his fingers on the strap of his bag.

 

The train got off the station after that and they didn’t say a thing. James was too nervous to say something—especially about the Polaroid. He just let The Ginger Hottie finished his sandwich alone.

“So,” The Ginger Hottie said as he wiped his hand with a handkerchief from his expensive bag. “I actually have something to ask you.” He paused and fished his jacket’s pocket.

James widened his eyes when the taller man showed him a Polaroid photo. It was a photo of him sleeping on the Ginger Hottie, almost looked like the one in his bag but with slightly different angle.

“I found this yesterday in my pocket.” The Ginger Hottie said, smiling. “Did one of your friends take it?”

James looked at him and quickly opened his bag. “No, they didn’t. They weren’t in the train yesterday.” he replied, taking another similar photo from his bag. “Actually I had one too, in my bag yesterday.”

The Ginger Hottie looked at the Polaroid in surprise. “Well, that’s interesting.” He chuckled, making James smiled too. “I thought… Well, it couldn’t be you because you’re in the picture with me and I should’ve known if it was someone else. I didn’t even realize I fell asleep too.”

James laughed. “That’s weird.” He took the picture from The Ginger Hottie’s hand. “There must be someone else took it.” They looked at each other and laughed at the odds.

“By the way, how could you know I’m from UCL?” James asked, as he gave the photo back to the taller man. “You called me The UCL Guy just now.”

The taller looked down to his lap and laughed like he was embarrassed. “I saw the pins in your bag. I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to call you. You have a remarkable sweater but the UCL pins took my attention.”

James titled his head, setting up a fake offended face. “Remarkable sweater?”

The Ginger Hottie looked at him with a smile. “No, I mean— it’s a cute sweater, I just can’t put words to it.”

“It’s hideous, I know.” James said, smiling while facing away. The Ginger Hottie grabbed his arm to stop him from looking away.

 

“No, I didn’t say that. It was cute. Really. I find it really cute.” He corrected his words and James shot him a look. “Sorry, but I do find it cute. Especially the one who wears it.”

James blinked in surprise while the Ginger Hottie might not realize what he just said before he caught on James’ expression.

 

“I mean…” The Ginger Hottie cleared his throat. It was so obvious that he was flustered.

 

“Okay, okay.” James helped him as he still couldn’t find anymore words.

 

They fell into silence then. James was too nervous from being called cute, while The Ginger Hottie kept clearing his throat and looked away while James could see his ears were so red.

 

“So, what were you reading yesterday? Where’s the book?” James asked, to break the ice.

The Ginger Hottie looked at him again now. “Uh, it’s The Rights of Nature. I have it in my bag but I’m too lazy to read it now.”

James nodded slowly. “You’re a lawyer?”

“Me and my friend, Hugh. Yeah. How do you know it’s a law book?” The Ginger Hottie asked back with a frown.

“My roommate Tom is a law student.” James replied. “He’s there, across us, the taller one.” He pointed at Tom who was talking about something with Benedict.

“Oh.” The Ginger Hottie nodded and looked at James. “So what are you studying?”

They ended up talking smoothly about James art study and the Ginger Hottie piled on with his law story. James realized sometime he didn’t talk with British accent, it was almost like Irish. He remembered Benedict said he might be Irish and when he told the taller man that, the Ginger Hottie laughed and said, “Maybe he really is Sherlock in disguise.”

They also talked about the football game. James almost lost his mind when he knew the Ginger Hottie was a Liverpool fan, and he was jokingly almost got up when James said he was a fan of Celtic. James also said they actually bumped into each other on the stadium but the taller didn’t know it was him. The Ginger Hottie replied with, “That’s a shame. I should’ve recognized you. You should’ve put on your sweater.” That earned a playful fist bump to his arm.

Two hours passed quickly as they kept chatting. The train arrived at Euston and they needed to get off of it.

“It’s really nice sitting with you here. Much better than Hugh of course.” The Ginger Hottie said as they got off. James saw his friends were following behind him with a teasing smile but he ignored it. When they did get off the train, James knew this was the end of it. He felt a little sad to be honest. “Thank you for… chatting with me.” The Ginger Hottie said, offering his palm.

James took the bigger hand and shook it. “Likewise. It was fun.”

Then the Ginger Hottie flashed him a smile before he caught up to Wol-his friend, Hugh. James sighed and turned around, finding his friends who was still smirking at him.

 

“Okay, okay, bring it in.” James shrugged his shoulders.

“He is hot.” Benedict nodded.

“He’s Irish, like you said.” James looked at Benedict who threw his fist in the air.

“I knew it!” Benedict exclaimed, earning a chuckle from Tom while James was just smiling.

“So what’s his name?” Tom looked at James while they’re walking to grab a cab to get home.

“I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”

“What?” the two friends stopped their track and looked at James in surprise.

“I didn’t ask. It was just a one-service ride, mates.” James said sadly. Even though his two roommates were arseholes sometimes, but when Benedict threw his arm around James’ shoulders and Tom patted him in the back, James knew he had the best friends in the world.

But then a hand grabbed his arm from behind. James turned his body around to find the Ginger Hottie was pulling his hand, almost out of breath.

 

“I’m sorry, but hi again.” The Ginger Hottie smiled.

Benedict and Tom was as shocked as James now.

“Do you have a second?” the Ginger Hottie asked politely, still holding James’s arm.

“What— oh…” James stuttered as Tom pulled Benedict away from James and flashed a sweet smile to the Ginger Hottie.

“Sure, he’s all yours.” He said politely and pulled Benedict away from the two. James glared at Tom but also thankful.

 

“I’m sorry.” The Ginger Hottie said again. “Would you mind if we exchanged the Polaroids?”

James was thinking of something else but he didn’t say it. “Uh, sure. Why?” He said as he took the picture out of his bag.

“Nothing. Just a little something.” The Ginger Hottie said and gave him the similar Polaroids. James took his out of his hand as the Ginger Hottie took his. “Thank you. See you when I see you.” The Ginger smiled for the last time and turned around to catch his friend.

James was confused. He looked at the picture in his hand and saw nothing different. So he flipped the picture and there he saw it.

 _Michael Fassbender.  
_ _+1 632 926 3702_.

The Ginger Hottie got a name now and James couldn’t help but smiling. He bit his lower lip to stop him from smiling so wide and looked ahead only to find the taller ginger was out of sight.

But it was fine, James didn’t mind. He turned around to follow Tom and Benedict to get home.

 The name ‘Michael’ kept echoing in his head and he knew it was just a beginning.


End file.
